Army launches secret weapon

The Army intends to launch a secret weapon today in an attempt to improve a public image damaged by hearing-loss claims. The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, has agreed to pay more than half the cost of the first Army entry in the Round Ireland Yacht Race. The £10,000 entry, some £6,000 of which came from Department budgets, is also backed by several commercial sponsors.

The crack crew has chartered a top ocean racer, Sarah J, which was presented to the Minister at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, earlier this month.

It has also thrown down the gauntlet to the other wings of the Defence Forces, but the Naval Service has neither the money nor the staff to pick it up. The Air Corps sailor, Mr Tom O'Connor, who is a veteran of the BT Global round-the-world challenge, is skipper of a favoured joint entry with the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club.

The 704-mile race, which sets off from Wicklow at 2 p.m. today, has always been popular with the military on both sides of the Irish Sea. The British SAS participated under a pseudonym during the last race in 1996, and came sixth. This year entries of larger vessels are down, but the Wicklow Sailing Club organisers report an unprecedented number of boats in the 40-foot range. Weather is likely to be the ultimate arbiter for the 38 participants.

The Minister for Defence has expressed his enthusiasm for the Army project. Unfortunately, no women could be persuaded to participate.